Monnet, Jean, << moh NAY, zhahn >> (1888-1979), a French businessman and statesman, led the movement to unify Western Europe in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He is considered one of the founding fathers of the European Community, an important economic association that was incorporated into the European Union in 1993. Monnet originated the idea for the European Coal and Steel Community in 1950 and was its president from 1952 to 1955. He set up the Action Committee for a United States of Europe and was its president from 1956 to 1975. He helped create the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the European Economic Community (Common Market), both formed in 1957. See European Union (EU) (History) .
Monnet was born on Nov. 9, 1888, in Cognac, France. His career as an international financial adviser began when he helped organize Allied supply operations in World War I (1914-1918). From 1919 to 1923, he was deputy secretary general of the League of Nations.
In World War II (1939-1945), Monnet served as an economic adviser to the governments of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He later became a member of the French provisional government. He created a five-year recovery plan for France that came to be known as the Monnet Plan and was adopted in 1947. Monnet realized that France’s recovery depended on a revived European economy. He also believed that the nations of Europe, acting separately, could no longer deal with Europe’s economic and political problems. As a result, he began working to develop a united Europe.
Monnet received many honors, including Europe’s Charlemagne Prize and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. He died on March 16, 1979.
